Adam Smith (1723-1790)

Scottish economist. In The Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith argued that economic prosperity comes not from government control of trade (as mercantilism held) but from the free pursuit of self-interest within competitive markets. The "invisible hand" of the market would coordinate individual choices into collective benefit.

Central claim: Free markets and free trade produce greater prosperity than government-controlled mercantilist economies.

Why this matters: Smith's free-market liberalism would become the dominant economic ideology of the nineteenth century, justifying both industrial capitalism and the dismantling of mercantilist colonial systems.